A strong start to last season had hopes high for Lamar football fans. But injuries and talented teams such as Lavaca and Charleston added some blemishes to the Warriors' record.

Lamar earned a playoff berth, but had the misfortune of facing an equally talented team in Lafayette County. The Warriors' season ended with a 21-14 loss to the Cougars, but some returning starters and a very good sophomore class have Lamar coach Jay Holland beside himself with excitement over the future prospects of the Warriors.

"We are very glad to have Josh Dossett coming back. He was our leading rusher and scorer a year ago," Holland said. "We also have five guys returning that have experience on the offensive line. They didn't all start last year, but they played. We also have some talented sophomores who are moving up that could help us on the line."

Signal caller David Sampley is gone, but Holland says last year's backup D.J. Shaw and sophomore Matt Jones are competing hard for the starting nod.

"At times both of them looked well in the spring. At other times they both looked inexperienced," Holland said. "Whichever one does not start at quarterback in the fall, will get work at wide receiver or safety. Both are the type of player that needs to be on the field."

Back for the Warriors is Hunter Stumbaugh and Stan Parks. Both saw time last season at wide receiver.

"Hunter and Stan both played receiver for us last year and each had a really good spring," Holland said. "We are glad to have them back. They will be an important asset for us in the fall."

Being a AAA school, Holland has had to have players play on both offense and defense during his time at Lamar. In some cases, players never came off the field until either halftime or the end of the game. Holland said he was grateful for the depth the Warriors had heading into two-a-days.

"We've got more depth right now than we have had since I've been here," he said. "We are going to try to have two complete squads where we don't have to play guys on offense and defense both. That will be a benefit as the season goes on."

On the defensive side of the ball, Holland said all three starting linebackers from last season were gone, but was glad to see three kids step up during the spring.

"We lost all of our starting linebackers from a year ago," he said. "Zach Ward, Denvis Moore and Mark Pearson each stepped up during the spring. Dossett also logged some playing time at linebacker last season for us, but we hope to use him exclusively on offense."

The Warriors are losing two interior linemen and one defensive end, Holland said. He added he expects some of the younger players to step up and fill those holes.

"We have Coty Gregory returning on the defensive line as well as Brett Young at defensive end," Holland said. "I expect some of the sophomores to play on the line as well. We got some big bodies in that class that could help us right away."

In the secondary, Holland said there was one loss from last season. With three out of four of the secondary returning, he said he felt that was one of the strengths of the defense.

"We have Jason Ritchie and Jonathan Justice returning at corner," Holland said. "Stumbaugh is back at strong safety. We have some kids that are capable of making plays for us in the secondary."

Holland said the team focused on the offense and defense in the spring and devoted no time to special teams.

"We wanted to work on our fundamentals during the spring. Special teams is one-third of the game, but we have to be able to block, tackle and do the little things right," he said. "We have to kickers coming back and well as our starting punter. We will work on special team when two-a-days start."

Holland reiterated the depth Lamar will have once the fall campaign begins, and said that while several sophomores would be relied upon to play, he wasn't worried about their youthfulness.

"We are not coming in completely green," he said. "A lot of our sophomores who we are looking at as starters played against Lafayette County last year."

Many teams look at spring practice as a welcome recess from the weight room of offseason, but Holland said the Warriors continued to lift weights throughout spring practice.

"We didn't cut down on the weight room. That is an important part of football. We have to be strong and physical," he said. "Overall, I feel we had a good spring practice and look forward to the start of two-a-days."